With the advent of the out of town emporiums and retail parks, the do-it-yourself industry in terms of decorating and home maintenance products have never been easier to reach out for. atone time it was the norm for families to engage the services of the local painter and decorator who would come in for the specified period and do a couple of rooms at a time; leaving the rest for another year. Now there a is a massive choice of products in the superstores and with online videos giving expert advice on exactly how to achieve that particular finish you are looking for. It is much cheaper to do the decorating ourselves of course, but the finish will never be as good as that professional guy who has learned his craft and honed his skills over the years.

Many years ago I took the opportunity of engaging a seriously professional decorating chap who usually lived abroad in a hot climate and came back to ‘blighty’ every spring to carry out work on contract basis at some heritage properties. He was more than just a painter. He could turn his hand to plastering, pargetting, woodwork, carpentry in general and, very critically repairing things. Any things. This point was crucial to the success of the period of time concerned. He did not know me well, we only met a few times during my annual stays with a chum over there. So I took him on a zoom tour of my house and he quoted on that basis. We agreed terms which included him using my spare room as his base, thus saving hundred of pound for hotel accommodation. . . and 4 weeks later he arrived promptly on my doorstep at the given hour. After a very speedy cup of tea, and a trip down to the local supermarket for his favourite supplies, he set about his preparation work that very day. Amazingly he was able to dry out the porch and overhang space and check the lighting was still safe. This is the sort of thing that only a dedicated professional home painter, decorator and fixer upper manages.